Coating applying machine



M. 22, 1936. w. L. MacKENZIE 2,064,932

COATING APPLYING MACHINE Filed Nov. 26, 1934 I 1 106 /Vl/[/V TUF ilk[04,64 A W Patented Dec. 2 2, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COATINGAPPLYING MACHINE Application November 26, 1934, Serial No. 754,894

6 Claims.

This invention relates to coating applying machines and is hereinillustrated as embodied in a machine of the type in which the coating isextruded through a nozzle upon the work.

In the application of coatings, especially coatings in the forms ofbands or stripes, to pieces of work, such as shoe parts, it has beenfound to be advantageous to apply the coatings by means of a nozzlehaving one or more minute passages 10. which usually are of suchdimensions that they form capillary tubes and through which the coatingmaterial is extruded under pressure. With some types of work, such assoles, shoe bottoms and the like, it is found that a more perfectapplication of coating material may be secured by providing a spreaderwhich is associated with the nozzle and arranged to drag upon the coatedsurface of the work thereby to even out the applied coating as relativemovement is produced between the nozzle and the work.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved nozzle embodying aspreader by means of which a more perfect and uniform application ofcement may be made. A feature of the invention resides in the provisionof a spreader strip which is illustrated as a long thin strip of rubberand which is clamped against the forward side of the nozzle in such aposition that its lower end normally hangs below the work contacting endof the nozzle. When a piece of work is applied to the nozzle, forexample, this depending end is deflected and drags over the coatedsurface. Also as illustrated, the spreader strip is clamped against thenozzle by readily releasable means so that, when the end portion becomesworn or bears hardened coating material, the strip may be lowered andthe worn out portion readily cut off. The invention, the work contactingsurface of the illustrated spreader strips is ribbed so that, as itdrags upon the work, the thickness of the applied coating will not bechanged as no coating material is removed by the strip but is simplyspread along the work in the direction of the applied band and thecoating thereby rendered more uniform. In one illustrated form of theinvention, the outlet openings of the nozzle are in the forward side andthe truding machine including a nozzle embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a portion of the same machine;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the applying nozzle and its carrierin a plane parallel to the direction of feeding movement;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section, much enlarged, on the line IV-IV of Fig.2 of a fragment of the applying nozzle and spreader strip, and showinghow the spreader strip closes the nozzle apertures when no work isapplied;

Fig. 5 'is a fragmentary side elevation to show the nozzle and a feedwheel in operative relation to a shoe;

Fig. 6 is a detail elevation of the support for a roll of spreader stripmaterial;

Fig. '7 is a vertical section taken in substantially the same positionas Fig. 3 through a modified form of the nozzle, and

Fig. 8 is a detail in vertical section through the strip clamp of Fig.'7 looking toward the adjacent nozzle and shows the points where thepassages emerge into grooves at the bottom of the nozzle.

To facilitate an understanding of the utility of the particular nozzlewhich forms the subject of my invention, I have herein shown the nozzleas applied to an extruding machine designed particularly for theapplication of a band of cement to the bottom of a shoe preparatory tothe attachment of a sole by means of the cement. Such a machine is thesubject of an application Serial No. 754,648, filed November 24, 1934,in my name and relating to improvements in Shoe bottom coating machines.It will be understood, however, that the nozzles herein described andclaimed'are not limited in use to that particular machine but may beemployed for various types of work and in various machines. Thisparticular extruding machine embodies a frame l0 having spaced framemembers l2 and I 4 (Fig. 2) within which is movably supported a carrierl6 (Fig. 1) for a driven feed wheel l8 adapted to engage the side of ashoe S, shown in section in Fig. 5. This feed wheel is arranged to bemoved outwardly into engagement with the side of a shoe under thecontrol of the operator by a treadle mechanism (not shown) and, when inoperative position, further outward movement is prevented by theengagement of a projection 20 on the carrier IS with a stop member 22carried by the frame piece l4. At the upper portion of this machine,there is tiltably supported an arm 24 which is pivoted near the rightside of the machine, as viewed in Fig. 1, and is provided at its outerend with a rod 26 upon which a nozzle N is supported.

At the end of this rod, I have provided a nozzle carrier 36 (Fig. 2)clamped to the rod 26 by means of pinch screws 32. The rod itself isheld in the arm and prevented from twisting by means of a set screw 34and the lowermost position of the tiltable arm is determined by anadjustable hand screw 36. The nozzle N is secured to the under side ofthe carrier 36 in such a way that its hollow body portion 38 (Fig. 3)communicates with a passage 46 extending through the carrier and openinginto a pipe connection 42 in which there is a turn valve 44 (Figs. 1 and2). Coating material is supplied to the nozzle through a flexible hose46 connected to this valve 44 by a tee 48 on which is mounted a gage 56for indicating the pressure applied to the coating material. The coatingmaterial is forced from a supply tank (not shown) by means of a pump(not shown) connected to the flexible hose 46 and this tank is filledfrom a supply can 52. Actuation of the valve 44 is effected by a treadle(not shown) connected to the valve by means of a rod 54. Universaljoints 56 are included in the rod 54 so that up and down movement of thenozzle with the pivoted arm 24 is not interfered with by the valveactuating rod.

It will be seen from Figs. 3 and 4 that the vertical face on the leavingside of the nozzle is corrugated to provide a series of grooves 66 withintervening ribs. Minute or capillary passages 62 lead from the hollowbody portion 38 to the crests of the ribs between the grooves 66 andthrough these passages the coating material is extruded. The bottom ofthe nozzle is beveled to provide a tip 64 adapted to rest on a piece ofwork, such as the shoe S, held up in contact with the nozzle and thepassages 62 emerge in the leaving side of the nozzle at a point slightlyabove the work contacting end of the tip 64.

In spite of the fact that a nozzle constructed with capillary passagesas above described is enabled to extrude predetermined quantities ofcoating material per unit of time and in spite of the I fact that thedriven feed wheel l8 moves the work along at a uniform rate, it issometimes found desirable to even the applied band of cement in thedirection of its length. This need is largely a result of the characterof the work. For example, while the shoe S, a portion of which has beenshown here for the sake of illustration, appears in the drawing to besubstantially plane on the surface to be coated, it is found actually tobe fllled with ridges and valleys, folds of the upper leather andfrequently will embody projecting metallic fasteners, such as tacks orstaples. It being impossible for the nozzle to always fill every one ofthese irregularities, it has been found desirable to provide a flexiblespreader strip I6, one end of which will normally hang below the end ofthe nozzle, as indicated in Fig. 2, but which will be deflected to theposition indicated in Fig. 3 when relative movement between the nozzleand a piece of work is produced, as by moving the work in the directionof the arrow. This spreader strip may be constructed of leather, rubberor the like and, in addition to being flexible, is preferably maderesilient so that it will spring back into position alongside the nozzleafter the work has been removed. The strip is thin in the direction ofrelative movement between the nozzle and the work and in proportion toits width and, thus, is readily deflected. Some of the coating materialextruded through the passages 62 will drop directly on to the work whilesome of it will flow along the work contacting face of the spreaderstrip I6. Preferably, this work contacting face of the strip is providedwith ribs I2, shown much enlarged in Fig. 4, and with grooves I3. Theseribs I2 rest upon the overlasted upper u of the shoe S. Such a ribbedsurface on the spreader strip I6 provides a more perfect evening of thecoating material than would a plane surfaced strip, as it tends toprevent lateral spreading of the coating material and avoids wiping offany of the coating material. Conveniently, the ribs I2 on the spreaderstrip may be made complementary to the grooves 66 on the face of thenozzle and the spreader strip may be made of resilient material, such assoft rubber. Consequently, when the spreader strip springs back into itsnormal position, illustrated in Fig. 2, it will tend to close thepassages 62, thereby to keep the coating material from becominghardened. "When the strip is deflected, as in Fig. 3, the coatingmaterial runs down the grooves I3 and is more surely conducted to justthe desired location upon the work. Such a soft rubber spreader stripmay conveniently be provided in a long piece, shown as mounted on a reel86 (Fig. 2) carried on a bracket 82 bolted to an outward extension 84 ofthe nozzle carrier 36. Provision is made, as shown in Fig. 6, for

resisting too free turning movement of the reel and comprising a spring86 bearing against the reel and applying a pressure regulated by nuts88. This spreader strip passes through a slot 89 in the carrier 36 andis releasably held between the ends of the strip against the uprightface of the nozzle by a U-shaped clamping member 96 having side flanges94, and pivotally mounted upon the lower arm of a bell crank 96. Theseside flanges cooperate with the nozzle and the clamp to prevent lateralmovement of the strip. The pressure of a. spring 98 upon the bell crankurges the clamping member 96 into contact with the strip. A finger pieceI66 formed at the upper end of the bell crank enables the operator torelease the clamp 96 whenever it is desired to provide a fresh portionof the strip. In the course of time, the ribs I2 on the active end ofthe strip will become worn and it may be that, through carelessness, thecoating material will have hardened upon the lower end of the strip. If,then, it is desired to remove this work contacting portion, it is onlynecessary for the operator to raise the finger piece I66 therebyreleasing the clamp 96 and to draw down a fresh portion of the spreaderstrip from the reel 86, cutting off the used portion.

A modified nozzle N is shown in Figs. 7 and 8, which differs chieflyfrom the nozzle already described in the construction of the workengaging end I64. This is provided with a series of ribs I62 on the workcontacting end between intervening grooves or recesses into which openpassages I64 leading from the hollow body portion I66 of the nozzle.Upward pressure of the work against the lower end I64 can never closethese passages I64, therefore, and the coating material will be appliedin closely related stripes which will be smoothed out and caused tomerge, in most cases, by the work contacting end II of the spreaderstrip I6. The grooves between the ribs I62 at the lower end I64 registerwith other grooves on the vertical face of the nozzle like thoseindicated at 66 in Fig. 4.

Inthe use of the machine, coating material supplied to the nozzle Nunder pressure from the the lower end of the nozzle. The shoe will beguided by the operator so that the entire marginal portion of the shoebottom, or such part of it as may be desired, receives a band of coatingmaterial. This band will be rendered even more uniform than wouldotherwise be the case by the action of the spreader strip 10.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an extruding machine, a depending nozzle having grooves in itswork contacting end extending in the direction of relative movementbetween the nozzle and a piece of work presented thereto, minutepassages extending from the interior of the nozzle to approximately thebottoms of said grooves, and a flexible ribbed spreader associated withsaid nozzle and adapted to be deflected by a piece of work and to bearupon the coated surface of the work as relative movement between thework and the nozzle is produced.

2. In an extruding machine, a nozzle having a recessed end portionadapted to be positioned near the work, a passage through said nozzlehaving an outlet opening within the recessed end portion, a ribbedvertically elongated flexible spreader strip associated with said nozzlenormally extending beyond the outlet end of the nozzle and adapted to bedeflected by contact with a piece of work presented to the nozzle, andreadily releasable means engaging said spreader strip at a point betweenits ends to clamp it to said nozzle, said stirp being much longer thanthe distance between the clamp and the outlet end of the nozzlewhereby'fresh portions of the strip may readily be brought intooperative position.

3. In an extruding machine, a depending nozzle having a hollow bodyportion connected to the forward side surface of the nozzle by one ormore passages, said forward side surface having a plurality of groovesextending heightwise of the nozzle, and a ribbed spreader strip thesurface of which is complementary to the surface of the nozzle andclamped against said forward side thereby to seal said passages when nowork is present and to be deflected by the work to open the passages andto bear upon the coating applied by the nozzle, as relative movement isproduced between the work and the nozzle.

4. In an extruding machine, a depending nozzle having a work contactingend portion, a hollow body portion, the forward side surface of saidnozzle being provided with a plurality of grooves with intervening ribs,and a resilient spreader strip clamped against said side surface at apoint removed from the work, said nozzle having passages extending fromthe hollow body portion to the forward side surface and opening at thetop of the ribs between said grooves adjacent to the lower end of thenozzle, said resilient spreader strip having a ribbed surfacecomplementary to the grooved surface of the nozzle and extending belowthe end of the nozzle whereby said passages are sealed by the spreaderstrip when no work is present and are opened by the deflection of thelower end of the strip when a piece of work and the end of the nozzleare brought into contact.

5. In an extruding machine, a nozzle having an end portion provided witha discharge opening adapted to be positioned near the work, meansforsupporting a supply of surplus flexible spreader strip material onsaid machine, said strip extending below the outlet end of said nozzle,and

, means for releasably clamping said strip material at a point betweenits ends to the end portion of said nozzle.

6. In an extruding machine, a nozzle having an end portion provided witha discharge opening adapted to be positioned near the work, a rotatablemember supporting a supply of surplus flexible spreader strip materialon said machine, said strip extending below the outlet end of saidnozzle, and means for releasably clamping said strip material at a pointbetween its ends to the end portion of said nozzle.

WILBUR L. MACKENZIE.

